Devastation Disguised As “Blessings”

How your giving is detrimental.

Having lived and worked among the people of Uganda for the past several months, we have seen firsthand how utterly detrimental the giving of gifts (financial or otherwise) under the name of being a “blessing” has been to this country. It is not being a blessing to do something for people who can do it for themselves. It creates dependence, slothfulness, and welfare.  Time and time again we have aided in other’s  “blessing” of Ugandans and witnessed first hand the enabling cycle lead to the destruction and failure of many well-meaning projects, churches, schools, and supporting of families.

Enough is enough! By giving to the people every “need” they present you with you are taking away their dignity and their ownership. You are stripping them of joy from earning and working to provide for themselves. You are taking away their dependence upon the Lord and placing it upon yourself. You are becoming their functional savior – and in the end you will fail them and leave them much much worse than you found them. No matter how pure your heart or well-meaning your motives, freely and constantly giving anything other than the Gospel is creating an unending dependency on you, your organization, etc. and it is costing them everything.

The Real Problem

With that being said, the true problem is sin. We want to cater to all the needs that are real and difficult for these people but we are simply treating the symptoms and not attacking the root issue of sin. In the beginning, God made everything and He declared it to be good.  Then Genesis chapter 3 takes place. Sin enters the world, breaking everything, and as a result we have death, disease, poverty, starvation, greed, lust, allergies, etc. The good news is that God, being the excellent steward and masterful father that He is, promised to send someone to set things right and redeem all things back to Himself for His glory alone. Jesus came, lived perfectly, and died to atone for the sins of all people of all nations. Yes, we are expected to love and care for them well but to love others well would be to attack their root problem of sin and point them to their true savior, Christ, not to make our glory great and become their functional saviors in the name of being “blessings” to them.

This is not to say that there is not a way to give, you need to be strategic. 

A perfect example from our culture would be the rising epidemic of extended adolescence whereby children reach the age of adulthood but have never had to take responsibility or provide for themselves so they continue to use up the resources of mom and dad. This is shown through constantly asking for money and not searching for work to provide for themselves, living at home for as long as possible to avoid providing for themselves, not taking ownership and caring for what they have already been given, etc. Some ways that we can combat this would be to push the little birds out of the nest.

We need to stop treating third world countries as if they are our “little birds”. Stop giving them everything they ask for and start expecting them to take ownership and provide for themselves. The Ugandan projects, schools, churches, and families you are investing in need to take responsibility for their needs and growth. They need to take ownership and initiative to provide for themselves, not sit back and wait on the westerners to cater to their every need.

Things to stop doing:

1. Throwing money at them for everything: Excessive tipping, not bargaining (this is part of their culture- embrace it), wanting to pay for unnecessary things i.e. their rent, salaries, etc. You are creating dependency and the mindset that westerners have money to throw away! It’s not showing them good stewardship, how to take responsibility for themselves, or work ethic. Remember that they do not see the effort you put in to gain your funds to come to them, to give to them, or to pay for other things like clothing, food, your home, etc.  [We have been asked repeatedly if we would give them our money machines – because apparently they believe we carry machines to print money and never have to work.]
2. Promising to give them things that they can work hard and get for themselves.  This includes bicycles, motorcycles, generators, cooking supplies, food, computers, etc. We expect people in America to work for these things if they want them, not just to beg and expect others to give them what they request. Hold them to the same standards!  They will far exceed your expectations if you demand of them to step up and take ownership for themselves. Good stewards think ahead, work hard, plan well, and achieve their goals. What are we teaching these people if we continually give them everything they as of us? Besides, the majority of the well-intended gifts we give them they sell to make money for themselves. At least they are resourceful.

What To Focus On

Give them the Gospel! Honestly, short-term trips do more damage than good from what we’ve seen, especially in regards to the gospel. The first thing Christians should be offering is the opportunity to meet with the creator and sustainer of the world who desires a personal relationship with His creation. Other’s can tell where your focus is based on what you talk about. Are your more concerned with your project, organization, and/or meeting physical needs or are you constantly, unashamedly, and boldly proclaiming the gospel and using that as a funnel to provide for needs to the glory of God and the good of others? If not, what good is actually coming from your efforts? Loving others well involves thinking of them as souls who will exist eternally, not just bodies in the here-and-now. We aren’t saying don’t give or don’t provide well. What we are saying is give strategically, carefully, and with accountability in ways that are not enabling, creating dependency, and doing for them what they can do for themselves.

Ideas for how to give:

1.     Ask them how they can raise their own support and let them.

      If you had never shown up, these people would still be existing and functioning. They would still have the same needs and they most assuredly could figure out another way to provide them than asking for money or gifts. Furthermore, we were created to work and through that to worship the almighty God! Enabling others so that they don’t feel the need to work for themselves takes away one of the gifts of worship for which God created us. Giving prayer and wise counsel is better for them and you than giving financially over and over again. It goes back to giving a man a fish vs. teaching a man to fish.  Would it not be better to provide lifelong skills than temporary items?

2.     Have them to raise money to pay for at least half of the funds, or pay you back.

No, this doesn’t sound kind or like a gift, but it is truly one of the greatest gifts you can give – ownership and a sense of worth. When we work for something we take care of it, we protect it; we want to see it flourish. Freely providing for every minute need we are presented with takes all of that away from them and can make them lazy and give them a disregard for what they have already been given. It also feeds the “gimme” mindset: if I want it or need it I am entitled to you giving it to me.

3.     Cultivate their gifts, resources, and talents without rushing them.

These are an extremely gifted people. They are functioning well on their own, but the constant influx of money from 1^st world countries is causing an extreme dependency on the money from the west. It creates corruption in every faucet of Uganda- from the top down. The people are creative and talented. Help to encourage gifts of their own to grow themselves instead of lavishing them with financial gifts. And please don’t expect immediate, westernized results. Effective change takes time.

4.     When you do give, make it for a need that the Holy Spirit has prompted of you, which is saturated in prayer, and they cannot possibly meet on their own. This type of giving should be seldom and temporary. Not long term, not all inclusive to whatever they say they need, and not without checking up to see if the need is true, dire, out of their ability to provide for themselves, and of first priority. Have accountability.

5.     Give to solid christians who are already there long term (2+ years), under godly authority, on the ground, living on mission, and penetrating the population with the Gospel.  These people are not necessarily working on projects but are working among the people. Remember: success is not always measured in buildings, number of converts, or amount of funds raised.  It’s in the forward motion of the Gospel creating disciples (not just converts). How do you know whom to give to? Look for people who are bearing good fruit! For example: we have met a family who has lived and served in Uganda for the last 5 years. They aren’t working on creating buildings or meeting material needs, they are looking at the real problem of sin. They have strapped themselves with the Gospel and are living among the people not to fix the people or their needs but for God to fix the problems in each of them and to ultimately restore all things to Himself. As a result, they have seen nationals come to Christ and its those same nationals who are winning their own country to the Lord, taking initiative, providing for other’s spiritual and physical needs, and creating many more disciples than any mzungu or project could possibly do. Invest in this type of work because it is eternal!

In the end, the brokenness, poverty, and need are all a result of sin and broken relationship with God. We need the Gospel to be penetrating their hearts, not our wallets scratching the surface of their wants.  “Our perspective should be less about how we are going to fix the materially poor and more about how we can walk together, asking God to fix both of us.”  - Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert, “When Helping Hurts”.